IP: Lack of trust in each other [if you remember I reported

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

   The Decline of Public Trust


   Q: Would you say that most people can be trusted or that
      you can't be too careful in dealing withe people?


      1964: 76%  1995: 25%


   Q: How much of the time do you trust the government in
      Washington to do the right thing?


      1964: 54%  1995: 35%
   _________________________________________________________


   Pessimism about the future as well as concerns about crime
   and the national economy also feed growing distrust of
   government.


   The Future


   Q: Do you feel very confident, only fairly confident, or
      not at all confident that life for our children will be
      better than it has been for us?


      Very confident: 10%
      Fairly confident: 34%
      Not at all confident: 54%


   Crime


   Q: How worried are you, if at all, that you might become a
      victim of violent crime during the coming year?


      Very worried: 14%
      Somewhat worried: 34%
      Not too worried: 33%
      Not worried at all: 19%


   Economy


   Q: Do you think the nation's economy is getting better,
      getting worse, or staying about the same?


      Better: 16%
      Worse: 39%
      Staying about the same: 43%
   
   _________________________________________________________


   Americans On the Level


   Many Americans express low levels of trust in each other...


   Q: Generally speaking, would you say that most people can
      be trusted or that you can't be too careful in dealing
      with people?


      Most people can be trusted: 35%
      Can't be too careful: 63%


   Q: Do you think most people would try to take advantage of
      you if they got a chance, or would they try to be fair?


      Would try to be fair: 50%
      Would take advantage: 48%


   Q: Would you say that most of the time people try to be
      helpful, or that they are mostly just looking out for
      themselves?


      Try to be helpful: 49%
      Looking out for themselves: 48%
   
   _________________________________________________________


   Based on the survey, Americans were divided by their levels
   of trust in each other ...


   The "most trusting" were those who gave positive answers to
   all three questions above.


   The "least trusting" were those who gave negative answers
   to all three questions above.


   The middle group gave a mix of trusting and mistrusting
   answers.


      Most trusting of individuals: 27%
      Least trusting of individuals: 37%
      Middle group: 36%
   
   _________________________________________________________


   The more you mistrust human nature the less likely you are
   to have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in
   the Clinton administration, Congress and the Supreme Court.


   Percent who expressed confidence in N0NE of the three
   branches of federal government


      Most trusting: 34%
      Least trusting: 55%
   
   _________________________________________________________


   Americans with low trust in human nature are more likely to
   see themselves as politically powerless and to see
   politicians as unsympathetic to their needs. They are also
   far less likely to vote.


   "People like me don't have a say about what the government
   does." Strongly agree:


      Most trusting: 16%
      Least trusting: 41%


   "I don't think public officials care much what people like
   me think. Strongly agree:


      Most trusting: 26%
      Least trusting: 53%


   Say they voted in 1994 election:


      Most trusting: 61%
      Least trusting: 35%
   
   _________________________________________________________


   The younger generations exhibit higher cynicism in regard
   to human nature.


   Percent displaying low trust in individuals by age:


      18-23: 51%
      24-29: 48%
      30-39: 41%
      40-49: 33%
      50-59: 29%
      60+:   26%
   
   _________________________________________________________


   The results of this joint Washington Post/Kaiser Family
   Foundation/Harvard University national survey are based on
   telephone intemiews with 1,514 randomly selected adults,
   conducted Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 1995. The margin of sampling
   error for the overall results is plus or minus 3 percentage
   points; the margin of error for subgroup populations is
   larger. Sampling error is but one source of many potential
   errors in this or any other opinion poll. Interviewing was
   done by Princeton Survey Research Associates of Princeton,
   N.J.